Jerry Seinfeld and Jon Stewart bully an AMC Gremlin

Jon Stewart and Jerry Seinfeld have a laugh at the AMC Gremlin's expense.

PHOTO: Screengrab, Crackle

Latest "Comedians in Cars" mocks American Motors' infamous econobox

By Paul Choi

Originally published: July 24, 2014

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In a bit of a departure for his web show, Jerry Seinfeld’s latest Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee doesn’t feature a cool, vintage car.

Instead, it features an AMC Gremlin. Yes, that bulbous two-door ’70s econo-hatch built by American Motors Corporation to compete with other affordable (and equally loathed) compacts of the era like the Chevrolet Vega and Ford Pinto.

As Seinfeld himself notes in the video, the Gremlin was “even more horrible” than the latter two cars. And that’s saying something.

But there’s a reason the comedian would dare be caught driving this ’78 Gremlin – it was the first car of his guest for this episode, The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart.

Seinfeld and Stewart had a few hearty laughs at the expense of the poor Gremlin, with Stewart joking that the unfortunately-named car was used for many years as “contraception” by young men in the ’70s. The Gremlin’s choking engine start-up noise, Stewart notes, is “the sound of virginity.”

Fortunately, the comedians didn’t have to endure the pain for too long as they traded in the Gremlin for a 1969 AMC AMX, the company’s two-seat, 315-horsepower sports car. A much more worthy vehicle for the show, we think.